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Thursday, 27 August 2015

A book I just couldn't put down...

(L'Amour Actually By Melanie Jones you can buy it here, bookmark was a gift from one of my family members a few years back)

Hello everyone. So today's post is about a book I haven't been able to put down. I used to love reading and could read books like they were going out of fashion but since starting my GCSE's in Year 9 I haven't loved reading as much. Now that I've officially left school, I decided to contact Melanie Jones who is also a blogger and you can read her blog here. I did a post about Melanie back in February as there was an Amazon Deal with her book and I also did an interview with her. You can read that here. I promised I would review her book at some point and today is the day. I'm not going to give away too much detail as I do find myself, that I'd rather know the person's thoughts about the book rather than the plot etc. I would like to thank Melanie for letting me review her book and kindly sending me it.

My copy even has a little personal note which is great! Anyway onto the review...

"After one particularly bad day at work, advertising executive and confirmed city girl Melanie Jones decides to give up her old life in search of something new and simpler in South West France. With little knowledge of the country, even less of the language and just the memory of a disastrous school French exchange and a few day trips to Calais, she embarks on her adventure with a suitcase full of optimism and not a little bit of naivety. After all, how different can life in France be?"

"After a series of adventures with skirt-ripping tractors, handsome twin farmers, celebrity not-quite-beens, unusual toilets and a bonkers ex-pat community, all topped up, of course, with lashings of rosé, Melanie begins to discover that her new life in France isn’t quite what she’d thought it would be."

I was firstly drawn to Melanie's book by the front cover, it's so pretty and would look lovely on a book shelf, sadly I don't own one at this current moment but hopefully in the future I will have a book shelf full of wonderful books. I then read the blurb and instantly wanted to read it. I love the title of the book 'L'Amour Actually' after doing GCSE French in Year 9 and then failing and having to resit in Year 10, I definitely wanted to see what French was based in this book.

The thing I love about reading the most is you can perceive a book differently to everyone else. You can imagine your own characters when you are reading it and even though I have seen photos of Melanie from her blog, I still kind of imagined her differently when reading her book.

Every night I got cosy into my pyjamas and lit a candle and found myself absorbed into her book, on some days I've been reading it through the day as well, just because I couldn't put it down. I was gripped to it.

Even though I currently don't have a job, I have been to London a few times in my life and I know how busy it is and so you can imagine how lovely it must be to leave your stressful, tiring job and take a break in the French Countryside. The French Countryside compared to London must be a whole new world as we discover in this novel. I live in a small town and even that at times is rather hectic. This novel definitely made me smile as you do read about some of the hilarious realities of a London City Girl moving to Rural France! I couldn't stop smiling and laughing at this book.

I have to say, I was even laughing from the beginning. When Mel first arrives in France she had to impress with her crazy high Louboutins - probably not the sort of footwear you'd typically wear in the countryside but it definitely made me laugh. She then ends up in a ditch and has to be rescued and then to end the perfect first journey she also loses half her skirt by stepping down from a tractor. Although I cannot relate to any of these situations, I definitely think that the ripping of the skirt would be something that would happen to me. I'm unbelievably clumsy and always seem to embarrass myself. I love Mel's character, she's a very likeable character even right from the beginning. Some of the embarrassing situation she gets into, you feel quite sorry for her.

In the beginning Mel definitely appears as a high maintenance character, which is not like me but you do find that the more you read, the more you get to see of the 'real' Mel and your opinion can definitely change of her.

My favourite part is possibly when she meets Julian and the fact that he is described as looking very similar to Channing Tatum, is well, very impressive. I definitely like how he is described.

I did find that this book was like reading a diary and I think this is one of the main reasons why I just couldn't put it down. You feel like you are one of Mel's friends and you are along for the ride. The writing style of this book is fantastic.

I think one of the most interesting facts about this book is that it is part fiction and part fact, which I have never read a book quite like this before. You do find yourself wondering which parts are actually true and which parts are made up. I think it's fantastic how Melanie creates this mystery but I hope she didn't have too many embarrassing situations like described in the book! I really hope Julian isn't made up though!

There were lots of great characters among the book which made the story interesting to read. You have Gerard the drunken taxi driver who sounds like he could use a good shower and bar of soap - who ends up putting Mel in a ditch in the beginning and she ends up having to be rescued. You then have Tracey who is the reality TV singer star, who I have to admit, I didn't like her at first but she did grow on me.

There were a few twists towards the end which were very intriguing to read but if you want to find out about them, then you'll have to read the book.

I started this book on the 2nd of August and finished it on the 20th of August so it didn't take me too long to read it. I definitely think, that this book is a great summer read and if you want to escape the reality of your life then you can definitely do this with this book and you'll really think you are in France when reading it because you'll be absorbed.

You can buy L'Amour Actually by Melanie Jones on Amazon for £8.99 but it is currently on offer for £5.58 . You can buy it here. I would definitely recommend this book and I believe you can also buy it free for your kindle but I could be wrong.

Have you read L'Amour Actually by Melanie Jones?

*DISCLAIMER: This product was sent to me for review purposes only. This doe not affect my views and opinions on the product. All my views and opinions are 100% honest.